Today’s Lenten reflection is from Brother Matthew-Mary Okereke, A.A., graduate student in theology
There is no doubt that we have made immense progress largely due to the advancements in science and technology. However, there is no denying that this progress has led to an unprecedented inhumane disassociation with God, other humans, and other non-human-creatures. Like the Israelites while they wandered in the desert, we have abandoned the fullness of God’s wisdom and have made into gods the works of our own hands. We now consider our neighbors as nothing more than objects to be exploited or threats we must guard ourselves against. We daily pillage and abuse the earth and other non-human-creatures because we have wrongly convinced ourselves that nothing else matters but us.
The season of Lent particularly attempts to take us away from this obsession with the self while putting back on our radar that which matters most: love for God, for others, and love for the earth/other non-human-creatures. This triple love is the subject of the imperatives of the ten commandments that we read in the first reading today.
For us to be true Christians, we must match our creed with deed. Christianity is not simply a faith-professing religion; it is also act-based. One of the actions we must take this season of lent and moving forward is using the ten commandments to reevaluate our lives. Whatever we find in our lives that is not worthy of God’s temple which we are, we must drive out like Jesus did in today’s Gospel. We cannot afford to make God’s house a marketplace of sin and filth.